THE LAST DEFENCES OF CONSTANTINOPLE.

Kumara Times, Issue 415, 24 January 1878, Page 4

THE LAST DEFENCES OF CONSTANTINOPLE.

The cable messages published on Thursday speak of a probable intention •of the Turkish commanders to' abandon Adrianople and fall back upon the line •of the Tebekmedges, a low range of hills not far from the capital. This eventuality was spoken of in November last by a writer in the Times as not improbable. The difficulties in the way ■of their subsequent progress are thus •dt scribed in his paper:— The Russian army has now got as far -as in that disastrous war in which such & dreadful disease broke out among them that they were decimated in a short time, but still “ dictated terms of peace,* and retired. If there is any •one thing more sure than another, it is ibat the Turks have no intention of .permitting their rulers to accept any terms until they are driven to the last •stage. This last stage, I am of opinion, is not Arrived at by the capture of Adrianople. In one respect General 'Gourka’s bold advance into Roumelia baa been of incalculabe advantage to the Ottoman Empire. It has been the •cause of extraordinary activity on the part of the Turkish Government in hastening forward the fortifications about - Constantinople, and when I passed those lines in the early weeks of last September I was astonished to see what Extraordinary progress had been made. But not only are these lines in a thorough condition of preparation, •lines , in comparison with which Tories Vedras are weak; but at a point where the railroad and all other country roads converge and begin to climb up out of the great Eoumelianplain, a series of •earthworks of almost impregnable .strength' 'has been which •could hold ah army iu check for months. As the railway sweeps round in a great curvh of many 1 uiiles so that the ascent may I e more gradual, one passes through a succession of. low hills, presenting nothing from their-base, but when a sufficient Cltitude ia obtained they are obseryed th be trenched in every possible honeycombed with rifle pitSydhd.enfilading every possible ap. proach.; The impression on the mind as the train carries one on beyond these formidable lines towards; Cotistantinople is Ene; of/security/;and the idea of the Russians “knocking at the gates of Constantinople” vanishes into moonshine. Of couiae, it may be open to the Russians to march on Gallipoli; but that is rather an awkward matter for discussion, and there are other people who" would have a voice in that knotty question.Li'Moreover, my military friend who was also at Gallipoli on a tour of thought that a very few men ahcta very J earth wbuU sti*ohg as it ever was. From' Adrianople ;J Constantinople, r afte?a certain stretch of fertile land, the roim'try becomes one vast scrubby and unprofitable plain, with occasional hills or 200 ft or 300 ft high. This plain is in, many places coveted, by a strong growth of arbutus and stunted ilex, snch.asmay be seen for interminablej mJlea ; the railway between and Rome on

the Maritime line. Roads are plentiful, or rather tracks; but water is scarce, and after the Maritza bends away to the south, streams become rare and are dried up in summer. In the meanwhile every step the Russsians take towards Constantinople their communication becomes more difficult; for now they are liable to a formidable flank attack from an army advancing from the Gulf of Bourges, supposing the Turks have one to spare. Another 50 miles further on and the land becomes almost a desert, and is quite uninhabited except by a few fever-stricken peasants, whose sole means of subsistance is a herd of ragged hungry-eyed goats. This would not be the pleasantest place for the carrying on of a protracted siege, with supplies no nearer than Adrianople, upwards of 150 miles away.” The writer concludes:— “ I do not believe the Turks will consider themselves beaten if Adrianople falls, and if they have only the fortitude to wait .until the Russians are near Constantinople they will have an opportunity of giving their foe a lesson which hitherto, in all his wars of aggression and invasion, he has been wise enough to avoid, and Europe, if she is wise, will leave the troublesome * Question’ for the reflection of another generation.”